Still for ammonia



' (-No Model.) G. C. PARSONS. STILL FOR AMMONIAISPIRITS, &c..

' Patented July 19,1881.

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- UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

OEARLES C. PARSONS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HENRY BOWER,

' OFv PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

, STILL FOR AMMONIA, SPIRITS, 84.0.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 244,399, dated July 19, 1881.

Application filed September 27, 1880. (No model.)

effective and economical apparatus for the elimination of volatile bodies from solutions by the action of steam thereon, said apparatus,

being specially designed for the treatment of gas-liquor in the manufacture of ammoniacal salts, and being also adaptable to use in the. distillation of spirits, turpentine, and other liquids.

To this end my improvements consist in sundry novel devices and combinations, embracing a double-chambered body having upper and lower'conical-bottomed compartments, a communicating-pipe provided with a cook or valve, and connecting said compartments, a

series of steam-supply pipes opening into said compartments, a vertical column communicatin gwith said upper compartment and provided with a series of distributing shelves or trays, and a supply and a discharge pipe.

.The improvements claimed are hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical central .section through a. still em-- bodyin g my improvements. Figs.2 and 3 are horizontal sections through the same at the lines x 00 and y y of Fig.- 1 respectively; Figs. 4 and 5, similar sections through thecolumn, showing the arrangement of thev distributionshelvges and their supports Fig. 6, aplan view, on an enlargedscale, of a section of oneof the distributing-shelves, and Fig. 7 a view,in elevation and on an enlarged scale, of one of the steam-pipes leading into the upper compartment.

. To carry out, my invention, I provide a cylindrical body, A, of stout sheet or plate metal, divided by a conical diaphragm or partition, 0., into an upper-compartment, A, and a lower compartment, A, the bottom, a, of the latter being of similar form to'the diaphragm a.

, Theuppercompartmena'A, is connected by a frusto-conical cap, a, with the lower end of a vertical cylindrical column, A which is closed at top by a cap, a having an exit or discharge pipe, a connected to its center. The upper and lower chambers are connected by a coinmunicating-pipe,B, extending from the center of the diaphragm a to theputside of the body A, where it is provided with-a suitable cock or valve, b,- and opening-at its lower end into the lower compartment, A a pipe, a having a cook or valve, a isconnected to the center ofthe bottom, c of the lower compartment,A

and fulfills the function of drawing oft waste liquor therefrom, as required. Each of the compartments is provided with a man-hole, 06', of proper dimensions, and with one or more gage-cocks, a, and pipes a a each having a cook, a, communicating with the upper and lower compartments, respectively, to admitof the introduction ofmilk of lime thereto, as may be required in the treatment of aminoniacal solutions. I

Two inlet steam-pipes, O G, are connected to the bottom of the lower compartment, at points diametrically opposite each other and about tracted nozzles, which point in opposite directions, as shown in Fig. 2. I p

A series of U-shaped steam-pipes, O, of different lengths, the form of which is clearly shown in Fig. 7, is arranged in line diametrically within the upper compartment, A, each pipe having a flange, 0, upon its lower end, by which it is secured to the diaphragm a, above and around an openin gof corresponding diameter therein, and, after 'passin g upwardly and downwardly in U form, terminating in a horizontal bend, 0 at a short distance above its lower;flange, c. The bends c of the pipes on one side of the axis of the body point in opposite direction to those of the pipes on the other side, as shown in Fig. 3.

A supply-pipe, D, for the introduction of equidistant between its axis and periphery.

the transverse area of the column. A series of distributing shelves or trays, D, is arranged within the column between the pipe D and thelower end, being supported upon segmental sections d of an gle-iron, secured in pairs, alternatingin relative position, so as to break joints to the inside of the column. The function of the shelves or trays D is to divide and distribute as thoroughly as practicable the streams of liquid fed in through the pipe D and expose the same to the action of upward currents of steam, and a construction which I have found to be desirable, though not essential, is shown in the drawings, each shelf being formed of a series of sections composed of narrow strips of pine board, the surfaces of which are left rough as they come from the saw, the strips of each section being maintained at a distance apart about equal to their own width by intervening end and central blocks, and the strips of the alternate shelves being set relatively at right angles, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

In the operation of my invention the gasliquor or other solution from which volatile constituents are to be extracted is supplied through the pi peD to the column A and passes downward in a minutely-divided state through the series of shelves D into the upper compartment, A, of the body A, encountering in its course currents of steam, which are admitted through the pipes C 0 into the lower compartment, and thence through the pipes G to the upper compartment and column, by the action of which steam a portion of the volatile constituents is set free and passes out through the discharge-pipe a to a proper receptacle. The unseparated solution falls into and is permitted to accumulate to a desired height in the upper compartment, A, where the volatilization is continued by the influence of the currents of steam which boil up through the solution, the operation being facilitated by the agitation and whirling motion communicated thereto by the induction of the steam in reverse direction on each side of the axis of the still-body. Afterhavin g been subjected to the action of steam in the upper compartment for such period as may be found necessary to readily evolve volatile constituents, the solution is drawn off through the communicating-pipe B into the lower compartment and further similarly treated therein, such of the remaining volatile matter as is susceptible of separation being carried off with the steam through the pipes G, and thence, as before, through the column A and outof the upper discharge-pipe thereof. The waste liquor is led off from the lower compartment, as required, by the pipe a The pipes on a enable milk of lime to be introduced at the proper period into the solution in the compartment when the apparatus is employed in the manufacture of ammonia from gas-liquor, and may or may not be essential or desirable, according to the character of the solution operated on.

It will be seen that theapparatus affords facilities for the convenient and thorough application of steam to finely-divided streams or strata of a solution supplied thereto, as well as enables the solution to be thoroughly agitated during the operation,without the necessity of employing power or moving mechanism therefor, and, further, that the exhaustion of the volatile constituent may be continuously and progressively effected, and to as high a degree as is practicable, by the use of steam as a medium.

My improvements are specially advantageous in the treatment of liquids containing solid matters in suspension, as lime in gas-liquor, and grain residues in the distillation of mash, the rotary or whirling motion imparted to the contents of the still by the reversely directed currents of steam preventing the settling of the suspended solid matter, and the conical form of the bottoms, with their central discharges, insuring the removal of the entire contents of the compartments when the charge is drawn oil.

I do not herein limit the application of my improvements to a still-body having two chambers or compartments only, as described and shown, for the reason that a greater number may in some cases be desirable, and may be employed without departing from the spirit of myinvention. I have, further, for convenience of illustration and description, in this instance set forth the several compartments as constituting divisions of a single body, placed vertically one above another 5 but it will be obvious that, if desired, said compartments may be set at different levels in different vertical planes, the latter construction, which enables the heightof the apparatus to be correspondingly reduced, being conveniently applicable in locations in which restricted head-room would preclude the arrangement of the compartments in line vertically.

I am aware that double-chambered vessels having compartments connected by a valved pipe, to which compartments steam is admitted, and which communicate with vertical condensin g columns provided with perforated partitions, are not new in distilling apparatus, and I do not therefore broadly'claim said devices, either singly or combined.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In an apparatus for separatingvolatile constituents from solutions, the combination, substantially as set forth, of two conical-bot tomed chambers or compartments,located one above the other, a valved communicating-pipe connected centrally to the bottom of the upper compartment and leading therefrom into the lower, and series of steam-pipes leading into each of said compartments.

2. In an apparatus for separating volatile constituents from solutions, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a body having a cylindrical conical bottomed compartment, and a series of steam-pipes openinginto said leads into one of the upper compartments from the compartment next below it, said pipes terminating in discharge-orifices which are turned in opposite directions upon opposite sides of the axis of the compartment.

4. In an apparatus for separating volatile constituents from solutions, the combination, substantially as set forth, of two or more conical-bottomed chambersor compartments, a valved communicating pipe or pipes connectin g said compartments, a series of steam-pipes opening into said compartments, a vertical column communicating at bottom with the upper compartment, a series of. distributing 2 5 shelves or gratings arranged vertically one above the other in said column, and supply and discharge pipes communicating with said column at or adjacent to its top.

5. In an apparatus for separating .volatile 3o constituents from solutions, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a body, a column communicating therewith, and a series of distributing-shelves each of which is composed of wooden strips separated by blocks, said 3 5 shelves being disposed within the column with their strips alternately at right angles.

Witnesses:

S. B. GOODALE, E. HAYNES. 

